haskell



JAMES R. HASKELL, OF PASSAIG, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO JULIA W. I-IASKELL,v OE SAME PLACE.

ORDNAN-C E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersPatent No. 484,012, datedOetober 11, 1892; Application iiled May 24., 1890. Renewed June 15, 1891. Again renewed March 9. 1892. Serial No. 424,272. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, t mag/concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES R. HASKELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Passalc, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ordnance, of which the following is a description.

My invention particularly relates to the breech-plug of a gun and to a gas-check applied thereto or to any analogous structure where a gas-check device is desirable.

The following is a description of the breechpin of a gun (shown in the accompanyingdrawings) which embodies my invention inthe form which I now prefer to employ, and this description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is sufiiciently, full, clear, and exact to enable any one skilled in the art to which my invent-ion appertains to make and use the same.

In the accompanying drawings similar letters indicate corresponding parts in both tigures.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through the breech of an ordinary breech-loading gun on the line of its axis. Fig. 2 is a plan of my improved gas-check, being a front end view of said breech-pin. Y

A illustrates a gunbarrel of the simplest construction. It may be made in any of `the various ways now known to the arts or in any other suitable way. As far as the application of my present invention is concerned, it is immaterial whether it be a single-charge gun or a multicharge-gun. If, however, it be a multicharge-gun, I prefer to provide the supplemental chambers, as well as the main chargechamber, with my improved breech-pin and gas-check, hereinafter described.

B is a breech-pin, hereinafterfully described, made of suitable metal, such as steel. The inner end of this breech-pin is formed with a projecting circumferential rim in the form of a dish. This device of itself forms an excellent gas-check and may be used without the addition of the copper dish hereinafter described. It will be readily seen upon the consideration of this structure that the force of explosion will expand the rim of this dishshaped cavity, forcing it up against the wall -of the barrel and effectually preventing the escape of gas from the chamber.

A gas-check made only as above described is open to objections when applied to a part of a gun which is frequently removed and replaced, as is the breech-pin, because it soon wears, and when worn out it is not easily repaired, and more or less difficultyv will be experienced in removing the pin after iiring. T o avoid these difficulties and to make the lgas-cheek still more effectual, I prefer to provide the end of the breech-pin (preferably :dish-shaped, as shown) with a rim of soft or rductile metal C, such as copper, which I have found to answer perfectly. The rim of the copper dish extends beyond the rim on the face of the breech-pin and' in contact with the gun-barrel.

As is very well understood, great difficulty is often experienced in removing the breechpin after the charge has been iired on account of the jamming and wedging of its inner end against the barrel caused by the force of explosion. This copper dish not only furnishes a means whereby the escape of gas from the rear of the charge-chamber is effectually prevented, but it also has the important advantage that it is not jammed by force of the explosion, so as to make the breechpin stick or to interfere with its easy removal. The copper dish is the part of the structure which is most exposed to the forces which tend to jam the end of the breech-pin, and as this is made of soft or ductile metal it is readily withdrawn even when it is pressed with great force against the bore of the gun. The end of the breech-pin may therefore be 'plain and not recessed, and an eeetual gas'- check according to the principles of Amy invention thus be constructed. When the end of the breech-pin is dish-shaped, the steel rim and the copper rim are both forced or expanded outward against the inside wall of the gun-bore, thus forming a double expanding cup, which is the form I prefer to employ. After the explosion of the charge the elasticity of the steel iiange apparently loosens the fiange of the copper dish, and the whole is then readily withdrawn with the breech-pin.

I prefer to attach the copper dish remov- IOO ably by sonne suitable ineans, such as the pins E shown, so that it may be renewed as often as its flange becomes so far burned away as to make it ineffectual; but it will last a long time and is quickly and cheaply replaced by a new one.

Referring now to the breech-pin shown in the drawings, F is a cylindrical piece provided with an interrupted screw-thread of ordinary design. The breech of the gun is also provided with a corresponding interrupted screwthread. This cylindrical piece F is bored out to receive the pin G, forming a sleeve for said pin. The outer end of this pin is screwthreaded and is provided with a nut H. This nut is so adjusted on the end of the pin Gr that when the breech-pin is in position for firing tue gun, the nut H is not in contact with the end of the sleeve F. Now after firing when power is applied to the sleeve F to revolve it it starts back and travels an appreciable distance before it strikes the nut H and exerts the force necessary to start the said pin, to the inner end of which the gascheck is attached. This construction has a double advantage. In the first place, every part of the breech-pin is to some degree wedged by the force of the explosion and requires more power to start it than to continue its rearward motion. As the pin G and sleeve F are not started at the same time, the increased exertion required to start them is divided by arranging the structure so that the sleeve F is started and got under way before the pin G is started. In the second place, as the sleeve F is in motion when it strikes the nut H, the force to start the pin G is applied with a hammer-like blow, which is much more effectual for the purpose than a steady strain. This construction therefore co-operates with my improved gas-check to make a breech-pin which is easily renewed after firing and which is durable and exceedingly efficient, and they completely solve, I believe, one of the most serious problems connected with the use of high-power breech-loading ordnance. The function of the nut H is to forni a projection on the pin G, with which the sleeve F engages when traveling rearwardly. I prefer to make it in the form of a nut, because the parts are then readily assembled and because it is'adjustable, so that a greater or less independent motion of the sleeve can be secured, as desired. lt may, however, be made in other forms.

Having described the preferred form in which my invention is to be embodied, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A gas-check for breech-loading ordnance, consisting of a separate metallic dish c, havinga circumferential projecting flange adapted to expand by the explosive force of the charge, in combination with a similar-shaped dish made in the end of the breech-plug, the two dishes coacting under the explosive force of the charge to form the gas-check.

JAMES R. HASKELL.

Witnesses:

AMos BRoADNAx, WV. M. VALENTINE. 

